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Okay, I’ve kept it hidden until now, but I just can’t hide it any longer: I am in love with the UK. London, in particular, as you probably could have guessed.

I might be a little — a lot — biased; last fall I spent a semester studying in London and completely fell in love. It was around this time that I started to consider writing something that I could seriously pursue, and, even though London has one of the richest literary histories, I really don’t consider my decision to delve into writing and my semester in London that connected.

Sure, we become different people when we’re away from home. I was very much away from home: it doesn’t take longer than 20 minutes to get anywhere in my hometown, yet my trip to class everyday took an hour — if that’s any indication. I was a different person, too. When I arrived in London, I was terrified of walking to the Tube station by myself, but by the time I left, I had come to cherish the little trips I would take — to museums, awkward monuments no one else would want to see, bookstores… many, many bookstores. Not to mention traveling to Amsterdam and Siena, Italy with only my backpack to accompany me. And the pink tights — those did not belong the pre-London Sarah; I think my mother something between a yelp and scream when she saw them.

But back to the point: the whole writing shift, I think that happened more coincidentally than because of London. I don’t think we should attribute major things like that to entire cities, that’s a little too much. A month before I left for London, I went to Hub-Bub’s annual Writing in Place Conference. While I was in London, I took my first creative writing course, and blogged for IES, the program with which I studied. It was just time, time that I start taking writing seriously.

Despite that, when I think London, I’ll always think writing. So, in honor of my unforgettable times there, I’m giving you a list of seven delicious magazines based in the UK. I was going to do ten, but I was also going to get up and go for a run this morning… did it happen? Negative.

Okay, so I haven’t technically read anything in their magazine, since they don’t have anything up online for me to read, but you should really just check out their site anyways. I find it fascinating. My curiosity may even be heightened enough that I pay the six pounds to get an issue, who knows.